Three Palms Mobile Home Park owned by Robert

Three Palms Mobile Home Park owned by Robert Tamburro Presented at Federation of Mobile Home Owners By Vance Jochim March 17, 2016 http: //tinyurl. com/FLMobile. Home. Owner. Guide www. Fiscal. Rangers. com

Overview • Will discuss VJ background. • Will discuss Three Palms Mobile Home park, owner Robert Tamburro (has 3 other parks). • Judy Miller covers Sunshine Park, owned by Tamburro. • Importance of Florida Statute Chapter 723 • Review of Tamburro practices • Review of agencies contacted • Recommendations & Closing 2

Consumer Warning If you buy a mobile home in Florida – Florida does not protect mobile home owners from being evicted due to land use changes and park closures. As a consequence, you could lose all equity in your home or have to move it. – Florida prohibits moving mobile homes manufactured before 1985 (? – verify), thus if a park closes or the owner evicts you, you cannot move it. – Florida has no legal protections for elderly mobile home park owners if the owner bullies or harasses or threatens them to give up their homes so he can get it. – Florida only provides TWO investigators for complaints about violation of Florida statute chapter 723 which governs mobile homes. There are 2700 mobile home parks in Florida. – Florida is an open records state. If you file a complaint, your name and contact information is available to the public and park owners and they can harass you. – Florida does not require that realtors disclose complaints about home owners or disclose pending plans to close parks for development actions. Thus you could buy a home and soon after get a required 6 -month eviction due to the park being closed. They are not required to disclose Florida prohibited moves due to age of the home. – For more, see http: //tinyurl. com/FLMobile. Home. Owner. Guide 3

Effect of Florida Statute Chapter 72 Supercedes all local ordnances. Has subpoena and investigation powers. Establishes all rules for mobile home park owners. No easy mobile home owner guide to understanding RIGHTS defined by Chapter 723 or other agencies. • Should be modified to require disclosure of age of home and rules prohibiting moves and any allowed waivers (i. e. park closure). • • 4

VJ & Park Background • VJ & Fiscal. Rangers. com • Three Palms discussed at Tavares, FL City Council for land use change – 2 residents gave public input. • Owner Tamburro is attorney and stated he would issue eviction notice upon state approval. Did not do it after Dec. approval. • Meeting with about 15 residents and learned initial issues 5

Tamburro Practices Is a bully. No posted rules Verbal threats to sue saying “I am an attorney” Only fixed septic tanks upon complaints, then harrassed complainer. • Does not properly complete transactions like no title for purchased trailer. • Doesn’t issue updated prospectus • Causes verbal stress, thus gets titles to homes and flips them for $4 -8, 000. • • 6

More Tamburro • Bad management of rent payments, thus father harasses tenants who actually paid. Bangs on door like loan shark collector. • Father lurks in park and physically intimidates residents. • Residents are scared to put name on formal complaints to DBPR or BAR ethics comm. • Uses Exit Realty to sell homes who does not disclose pending park closure and possible loss of equity. • Tamburro threatens lawsuits against nearby park owners to prevent move outs to their park. 7

More Tamburro • One owner gave Tamburro their title after selling a shed to a friend. Friend shows up to get shed and contents, and Tamburro’s father calls Sheriff. Since Tamburro takes titles but does not register them, he could not provide trailer ownership proof, thus Sheriff said he had to go to court to prove he owned the home. Stupid friend should have taken shed and contents 3 months earlier. 8

More Tamburro • Does not put anything in writing. Will call elderly resident, be mushy and get them to tell others (perhaps not all) VERBALLY that he won’t close park or issue eviction notice. No one believes him. • Prospectuses – only old document given to new owners of trailers, not updated or signed, even though state requires all be the same, and approved by them. • 55+ status expired at both Three Palms and Sunshine parks, thus new residents can be any age with kids, violating expectation of 55+. • Since park is no longer is 55+, Exit Realty advertises homes as 40+, no kids, age restricted which is not legal and is housing discrimination. Exit owner will not discuss this. 9

Other Agency Actions • County cannot create ordnance due to Chapter 723 supercedes them. Met with County Mgr, Board Chair and Attorney. No commissioner has visited park. • County elder services can only refer elders to agencies, charities, not investigate • DBPR mobile home investigations section only has TWO investigators for 2700 Florida parks • Tavares claims no authority to require conditions to approve land use changes like subsidize moving costs. (don’t agree, County does it). No elected council member has visited the park. 10

Agencies • FL State Div. of Condos, Timeshares & Mobile homes governs via Chapter 723. • FL Mobile Home Relocation Corp. is separate agency, only pays subsidies IF formal park closure eviction notice is issued. If not, residents can’t qualify, even if evidence shows it is planned. • Park owner has incentive to intimidate owners to move out to give him home and avoid paying relocation fees. No apparent protection. 11

Agencies • Stress initiated by Tamburro appears to be elder abuse but FL Dept. Children & Families (DCF) says they only investigate family or fiduciary care giver for elder abuse, not landlords. • Tamburro is Attorney, thus could file ethics complaints. Sunshine Park did and no action. • County Realtor Board takes complaints on realtor ethics, but it is an internal, private organization. • Exit Realty owner hung up on me. Site rep hung up. They won’t want to KNOW about pending closure so don’t disclose it on ads. They represent Tamburro also at Sunshine and an Ocala park. Looking in to housing discrimination complaint. • DBPR takes complaints but people afraid to give name since they send complaint with all details to park owner. I have waited for a month re complaint issues I gave to Director of Mobile Homes section, no action yet. 12

Agencies • Florida Manufactured Housing Assoc. (FMHA) – no peer review or ethics standards – would not even have manager talk to me. • Tavares Police Dept – regarding fraud in selling mobile homes without providing title. Says owner should have gone through title company. They can’t do anything on other issues. • District Attorney – Says they only act on evidence assembled by Sheriff. Have not pursued that yet. 13

Agencies • Lake County Sheriff – issue is jurisdiction – Three Palms is now in City of Tavares. But plan to talk to them. • Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi – office of Florida Rep. Marlene O’Toole (The Villages) turned over evidence on Tamburro owned Sunshine Park in Lady Lake to them. They did nothing and told her legislative assistant it was a civil matter. Consumer fraud issues may exist and need to be rewritten to stress that issue. 14

Agencies • Pro-Bono attorneys – two Three Palms residents contacted FL Bar for pro-bono help and both attorneys demanded $5, 000 to start. • Four residents and myself met with local attorney who is judge candidate for two hours. He agreed to review any legal letters from Tamburro at no cost, but seemed to indicate it was a civil matter needing a lawsuit. 15

Recommendations • Mobile home owners MUST: – stand up for selves and file complaints. – Protect selves by setting up committee or association and verify Chapt. 723 compliance is performed by park owner, such as updated prospectuses, rules, notices in writing and posted on bulletin board. – Give public input at local city or county Board meetings to get them involved. Invite elected officials to a meeting. Meet with them. Do it before problems occur. – Demand that DBPR provide better guidance to potential and existing mobile home owners of rights. They shouldn’t have to read Chapter 723 to figure it out. – Invite rep from Relocation Corp to speak to them. – Always create association to act as group, not individuals. – Demand FMO act more aggressively on getting statute 723 improved. – FMO should use member numbers to conduct social media campaigns to lobby legislators and agencies about park owner abuses. 16

Other actions needed • List improvements needed in Chapter 723 and demand inclusion. Better guide for owners, more investigators, public complaint website for home owners. • Require warning statement included with bill of sales and in prospectus that Florida allows owners to sell parks with 6 months notice or raise rents. Owners can lose all home equity due to excess costs to move. • Park owners are prohibited from threatening other park owners or moving firms to prevent move outs. Require $10, 000 fine and that any park owner or mover receiving such a threat must report it to DBPR. 17

Other actions • Real estate sale statutes must require realtors to disclose pending park closures and plans to change land use, or existence of land use changes allowing parks to close. • FL Mobile Home Relocation Corp. rules should be changed to allow constructive determination a park closure is pending so park owners can apply for and obtain relocation funds even if eviction notice not sent out. • Statutes covering mobile home sales must require disclosure about age of home and regulations prohibiting moves or any waivers allowed. 18

Other actions • An agency like DCF needs new rules to investigate and prosecute for fiscal elder abuse, stress, intimidation by landlords or other parties. • Learn what Florida legislative committees rule over DBPR and monitor and lobby them. Attend Committee hearings in Tallahassee. (Does FMO do that? ) • Florida needs Mobile Home bounty hunter statute to provide commissions to private investigators to supplement DBPR lack of investigators. 19

Conclusion • Get active in protecting your interests at the local level. Don’t expect government or FMO to do it. Request FMO become more active in improving statute 723 and use social media campaigns to lobby for prosecutions of abuse by park owners. • Monitor my investigation at: • http: //tinyurl. com/FLMobile. Home. Owner. Guide • Vance Jochim, www. Fiscal. Rangers. com 352 -638 -3578 - Fiscal. Rangers@comcast. net 20

Consumer Warning If you buy a mobile home in Florida – Florida does not protect mobile home owners from being evicted due to land use changes and park closures. As a consequence, you could lose all equity in your home or have to move it. – Florida prohibits moving mobile homes manufactured before 1985 (? – verify), thus if a park closes or the owner evicts you, you cannot move it. – Florida has no legal protections for elderly mobile home park owners if the owner bullies or harasses or threatens them to give up their homes so he can get it. – Florida only provides TWO investigators for complaints about violation of Florida statute chapter 723 which governs mobile homes. There are 2700 mobile home parks in Florida. – Florida is an open records state. If you file a complaint, your name and contact information is available to the public and park owners and they can harass you. – Florida does not require that realtors disclose complaints about home owners or disclose pending plans to close parks for development actions. Thus you could buy a home and soon after get a required 6 -month eviction due to the park being closed. They are not required to disclose Florida prohibited moves due to age of the home. – For more, see http: //tinyurl. com/FLMobile. Home. Owner. Guide 21